An Unlikely Turn
by SapphireAndChocolate
Summary: Mellie and Olivia share more in common than they'd like to admit. After years of avoiding each other but for unavoidable run-ins, Mellie takes matters into her own hands...But her confrontation takes an unlikely turn, and she and Olivia finally hash it out. I've taken some liberties, so this is about 50/50 AU and true to the original storyline. Just a one-shot. Enjoy!


Mellie straightened her already impeccable clothing. She had dressed with care, her flawless figure sheathed in scarlet. It was her power color. Everything about her was pristine, from her luxurious chestnut hair to the conservative pumps on her gracefully arched feet. She walked with the seasoned poise of a regent, every step assured as though even the ground beneath her acquiesced to her will. And yet, her heart slammed in her chest as she approached the heavy oak door, its gleaming brass knocker as ominous as a warning bell. She faltered for a breath of a moment, so brief that her shrewd SSA didn't even pick up on the subtle change in her demeanor. With a curt nod, she stood back and waited for him to knock on the door.

 _Who is knocking at this time of night?_ Olivia thought as she hefted the jumble of documents from her lap onto her coffee table and went to answer her door. She knew it wasn't one of her associates. They were very adept at quick and discrete communication, so she would have known in advance if one of them was coming over. And it definitely wasn't _him._ Fitz had made it very clear how much he hated her. She wrapped her arms around herself and forced the memory of his vile words after baby Ella's christening to the far reaches of her brain. She swallowed the lump in her throat and unconsciously fidgeted with her hair. A few seconds later, her eyes widened as she saw the stern countenance of a White House secret agent outfitted in his black suit, white shirt, tie and patriotic pin through the peephole of her apartment door.

A million warbled thoughts sped through her brain and she considered backing away from the door, not answering it at all. But some infuriating part of her ravaged soul, the part that still loved him despite the way he'd cast her aside like so much used waste, desperately needed to know why he'd come. Taking a deep breath that didn't work to calm her rattled nerves one bit, she moved the lock and slowly opened her door.

The SSA stepped aside and Olivia's mouth fell open in shock. "Mellie?"

"Hello, Olivia" came her sardonic reply. "Were you expecting someone else?"

Olivia balked visibly at her cutting words and felt herself bristle at the smug satisfaction on the beautiful woman's face that her petty jab had had its intended effect. She was conflicted for a few seconds that seemed to stretch in the tense silence. Then, wordlessly, she moved to allow Mellie's security detail to enter and conduct their quick inspection of her apartment. She was accustomed to the invasion of her personal space by men she secretly considered to be her very own Matrix Smith clones. In fact, she ignored them; relegating them to the background as they signaled the all-clear and Mellie stepped inside.

Neither said a word for another charged cluster of endless seconds as their sharp eyes met each other in silent challenge.

"What do you want, Mellie?" Olivia finally asked.

There was no need for posturing here. The agents were well aware of their relationship and their faces were expressionless as they left the apartment, closing the door behind them to stand guard.

Olivia waited with a fortitude that surprised even her as Mellie deliberately took her time eyeing Olivia's apartment before turning to address her. "Nice place" she said without emotion. "Nicer than I thought it'd be, actually. Although I can't say I gave it much thought. I just assumed you slept hanging upside down in the Presidential suite of some dark, seedy hotel."

"I _work_ " Olivia spat.

Mellie flinched.

"Did you come here to hurl insults at me? Or was there something you needed?" Olivia asked impatiently.

Mellie cursed inwardly, inexplicably annoyed that the woman still managed to look so beautiful in lounge clothes, fresh-faced and dressed in all white. She looked young and innocent, nearly ethereal in her silken pajamas and a bulky white knit cardigan. But Mellie knew better than that. Olivia's small frame stretched to its full height during Mellie's appraisal of her, her arms crossed over her chest and her chin tilted in defiance. Her annoyance was beginning to show and Mellie knew she shouldn't push her much further if she intended to get what she wanted from her.

The statuesque woman let out an exasperated sigh. It was a sign, Olivia knew, that Mellie's carefully crafted persona could crack at any moment and she instantly knew why she'd come.

"I can't help you, Mellie. He hates me. He wouldn't listen to me even if I tried."

Mellie shook her head, unable to stop her body's disgusted reaction to how inaccurate Olivia's words truly were. "You really have _no_ idea, do you?" She laughed without humor. "My _husband_ ," she seemed to choke on the word, "can't _sleep_ without you. He isn't eating. He can't manage to stop drinking enough to speak without slurring his words, let alone to perform the duties due his _office_ because his favorite plaything hurt his fragile little feelings."

She saw the pang of hurt in Olivia's soft brown eyes before she tried to blink it away, but was too incensed at the hopelessness of the situation to allow herself to relish it.

"After all of this-after all we've done, all we've sacrificed-he's just going to throw it all away! I know you think you're better than me, Olivia, but we're the same."

"We are _not_ the same" she fumed, her pulse picking up despite her efforts to remain impassive.

"Oh, but we are. You play the same game I play. You just like to pretend that you play it cleaner. Whatever helps you sleep at night, I guess."

Olivia looked away and Mellie could see that she was getting somewhere.

"Believe it or not, I'm not proud of a lot of the things I've done. But unlike you, I don't have the luxury of dwelling on those things, not with so much at stake. If you don't help, Fitz is going to let this administration die and Sally Langston is going to swoop in and pick at the carcass."

Olivia shook her head in disbelief and rubbed her temples. "What, _exactly_ , would you have me do, Mellie? I just told you we aren't speaking. We haven't in months."

" _Speaking_ , no" Mellie said accusingly.

Olivia's eyes widened for the third time since Mellie's arrival.

"Yes, I noticed that little intermission after Ella's toast. I'm not the raving idiot you two think I am."

"That was-it doesn't matter. It's over" Olivia said as color flooded her cheeks. It was maddening, the sudden innate need to explain herself and the feeling of absolute degradation.

Mellie shrugged. "You're the great Olivia Pope" she said derisively. "Fixer extraordinaire. You can't possibly fall in love with all of your clients. There must be _something_ you can do that doesn't require you to take your clothes off."

Olivia moved, finding herself centimeters from Mellie's face before either of them knew what was happening. "If you think that you can waltz into my home, insult me the way you have and then expect me to do you a favor, you are _sorely_ mistaken." Her nostrils flared as she stared into Mellie's wide blue eyes.

Mellie swallowed. She had obviously pushed Olivia too far, but she couldn't help it. She had been on the receiving end of Fitz's resentment and anger for longer than she could remember and now, finally, the tables had turned. Finally, Olivia could understand exactly what it was like to be in her shoes; but instead of the satisfaction she wanted to feel, she felt compassion. _Stupid, stupid_ she thought to herself with a slight frown of her perfectly arched brows. _She doesn't_ deserve _it!_

Olivia was standing so close, positively seething at her. Such an emotional display was out of character for her, Mellie knew, and she felt something within her spark at the thought that she had the power to elicit such a response from the stoic Olivia Pope. Damn everything to hell, but her mind wandered to thoughts of Olivia in the throes of passion, her exquisite face twisted in pleasure at Mellie's own husband's hand. Such thoughts were wont to happen, usually during moments of extreme insecurity when Mellie would torture herself about all the ways in which she and Olivia were different. Fitz obviously liked those differences and it made Mellie hate her all the more.

"Do you know what the worst part about all of this is?" Mellie rasped, obviously no longer talking about her husband's recent ineptitude. "We could have been _friends_. I admired you. I can't believe I wanted to _be_ like you!"

She watched as the steely façade fell away from the younger woman's face and surprise painted her delicate features.

"I invested two decades, three children, my career, my dignity," Mellie continued, swallowing the lump in her throat, "and my _heart_ to get us in that White House, just to have you strut your pretty little ass in during the final stretch and take it all away from me. You already had _everything_ but it wasn't enough, was it?"

Guilt replaced surprise on Olivia's face and her voice was weak when she found it. "You don't know—" she stumbled. "You don't know me at all. It's not what you think. My life is-I didn't intend for this to happen."

" _'It's not what you think'_ " Mellie parroted succinctly, her voice low.

She didn't know what possessed her, but she lifted a smooth, manicured hand to brush the side of Olivia's face. Mellie smiled when Olivia flinched. But she didn't move. They'd been in this strange conundrum before. Olivia would feel so frozen with shame that she'd allow Mellie to pour out her soul, laying everything at her feet, and then leave her to stew silently in her own misery for the pain she'd caused her. No matter how unintentional, Olivia knew she had hurt the other woman deeply, and for that she would endure these rare displays of raw emotion. But this was the first time Mellie had deigned to touch her, and though their pulses thudded loudly in their ears at the tension in the air, Olivia didn't stop her.

"What is it then?" Mellie wondered aloud. Her long lashes lowered as she let her gaze slowly travel the length of the small woman in front of her and back up again to meet her eyes. A wonder, those eyes. Their depths sucked her in, beseeching , beckoning…So _that's_ how the little witch did it.

Olivia stood stock still when Mellie's penetrating stare fell on her lips, pausing there for a long breath before finally returning to her eyes. She couldn't speak. What was she supposed to say? Far too much had happened for an apology to be anything but a waste of words. And although she was sorry to have hurt her, she couldn't be sorry for falling in love. None of that mattered anymore anyway. What was done was done and Olivia was alone again.

Mellie saw what must have been a myriad of thoughts race through Olivia's mind as her eyes shifted rapidly left and right while maintaining their gaze. Whatever the last thought was must have completely leveled her, because her dark eyes became pools of despair and she quickly lowered them again.

 _Stupid, stupid_ Mellie thought again because she was reaching out a hand to touch Olivia's face again, this time holding it in her palm. She couldn't believe it was happening, but Olivia turned into her, allowing Mellie's hand to caress the smooth skin of her cheek. Mellie's errant thumb glided gently across her face until it brushed her full lower lip.

 _So soft,_ Mellie mused.

She watched, entranced, as Olivia's tongue flicked out to wet her lips. "Mellie" she croaked.

"Shut up" Mellie said gently, bending to press her lips to hers.

Ripples of shock spread through Olivia's body, every impulse telling her to pull away. _This is insane!_ she thought, even as she felt herself respond. She hadn't felt such tenderness directed toward her in _so_ long. For as long as she could remember, she had been prevailed upon to be strong. She had to be brave and cunning and not succumb to emotional weakness. Even with _him,_ she felt the need to repress her innermost feelings to shield herself from potential heartbreak, to protect him from the world and from her own instability. Perhaps it was the absurdity of their circumstances that bonded them in that moment; an eerie concession that no one else on earth understood what it was like to be them, except the two of them.

Mellie breathed in Olivia's sigh and then felt her kiss her back, tentatively, soft and searching. All of Mellie's pent-up emotion culminated at the pressure of Olivia's lips on hers. This was the one person upon whom she had wanted to unleash her feelings for _so_ long and couldn't. Propriety, pride and insecurity had stayed her reprisal…until now, and the levee broke.

"I hate you" she breathed against her lips, taking Olivia's heart shaped face in her hands.

"I know" Olivia whispered.

She heard the pain in Mellie's voice and she knew that it wasn't simple hatred that drove her. However perverse she knew the moment to be, Olivia welcomed it. She gave herself over to the moment and silently hoped whatever this was could serve to alleviate some of the turmoil she'd caused and provide them both comfort.

Even in her modest heels, Mellie towered over Olivia's barefoot frame. Olivia ran her small hands along Mellie's arms and over her finely dressed shoulders to tangle in her hair. She could smell her shampoo and the soft, floral scent of Mellie's perfume as she opened her mouth to Mellie's probing tongue. Their parted lips and slowly tasted each other in soft touches, sipping deep until they were both short of breath.

Olivia maneuvered them to her couch, their lips never separating, and fell across it, Mellie's soft curves melding to Olivia's as she half sat across the smaller woman's lap. "Am I hurting you?" she asked nervously.

"No" Olivia assured her, wrapping her arms around her waist before peppering the elegant curve of her neck with kisses.

Mellie was lost in the feel of Olivia's hands as they touched her everywhere, skimming her waist, kneading the generous curves of her breasts before finding their way back to her hair. It felt so _good_. She pushed all the fear and doubt from her mind and allowed herself to feel.

Olivia took Mellie's hand and brought it to her own breast, encouraging Mellie to play there. Mellie marveled at how soft and firm the small mound was in her hands and the soft gasps she could draw from Olivia just by molding it with her palm and gently pinching the stiff peak. Mellie tingled all over with sensation, blood rushing to her center as Olivia continued her languid exploration of Mellie's mouth.

Olivia snaked a hand along one of Mellie's smooth thighs and beneath the hem of her immaculate dress. Mellie stiffened against Olivia's fingers, hesitant for a heartbeat, but Olivia was drawing soft circles against Mellie's dampening mound and any doubt faded quickly away. Olivia could feel Mellie's arousal. The latter woman's softly heaving breasts and the way she undulated against Olivia's hand guided her instincts and she applied pressure to the wet scrap of fabric covering the trim auburn curls.

"It's been so long" Mellie whimpered, hiding her face in Olivia's slender throat and riding her hand.

Olivia couldn't help but think of all the nights Mellie must have spent alone and lonely. Guilt caused her to falter for just an instant, and she determined right then and there that this moment would belong to Mellie.

"Sshhh" Olivia whispered, kissing Mellie wherever she could; her cheek, her dimpled chin, along her neck and a smooth, creamy shoulder. Olivia moved her hand inside Mellie's panties, deliberately avoiding her sensitive clit to glide two fingers between the slippery folds.

Mellie gasped, jerking against Olivia's hand. Olivia curled her fingers and slid them out, then in and out again slowly, over and over again until Mellie's moans became increasingly louder.

"I'm gonna make you cum now, okay?" Olivia said softly and felt Mellie nod against her cheek.

Olivia's deft fingers curved again as her thumb swirled Mellie's slick, aching clit. She continued her gentle ministrations, slowly and steadily, careful not to go too fast and destroy the delicious pressure building. When the throbbing in her core became nearly unbearable, Mellie's entire body tensed for several long seconds before she shattered against Olivia's hand. She clutched Olivia's arms and rode out her orgasm and Olivia gasped at the feel of Mellie's sharp white teeth digging into her collar.

Olivia simply held her as Mellie came down from her euphoria. They were chest to chest, their heartbeats pounding against each other as Mellie's breathing slowly returned to normal. Mellie's face was still nestled in the fragrant column of Olivia's throat, and she could feel the vibrations there when Olivia's sultry voice permeated the silence. "You're beautiful, Mellie. Beautiful and smart and soft and strong. Never forget that."

Mellie wanted to say something flippant in response but she was too vulnerable and would never admit it aloud, but she needed to hear those words. To hear them from a woman like Olivia, who was all of those things and more, was like a verbal caress and she reveled in it.

"Thank you" she murmured, allowing herself to kiss Olivia one more time before standing up, straightening her clothes and walking to the door.

Olivia followed her, pausing briefly with her hand on the doorknob. "Don't thank me" she said in a tone that revealed her deep remorse.

"We don't speak of this" Mellie said, forcing herself to meet Olivia's eyes.

Olivia nodded, opening the door to let her through. She watched as Mellie and her security detail disappeared into the elevator and then closed her door for the final time that night.

* * *

The expansive basement of the Washington Hilton Hotel was swarming with celebrities, journalists, Washington elite and Hollywood big wigs. The White House Correspondents Dinner was in full swing. Over 2,500 guests filled every seat at every table, and most were well into their cups by the time President Grant took the podium. The pandemonium that had unapologetically persisted through all of the previous presenters and speakers began to simmer down. Most guests weren't interested in the droning speeches of the poor schlubs with nine-to-five government gigs. They'd come to rub shoulders with each other and enjoy the comedy routines of the President and the paid entertainer of the evening.

Olivia and Jake Ballard mingled easily with the other guests at their table, enjoying lively conversation and laughing at the uninhibited political views of a few inebriated celebrities. Olivia was enjoying herself, but she couldn't help the way her eyes traveled to the main table. Mellie was there, of course. Olivia hadn't seen her since the night she showed up unexpectedly at her apartment two months ago. She looked regal, her shiny mane expertly coiffed into an elaborate woven knot atop her head. She wore her signature red, this time in the deep hue of her conservative one-shoulder gown.

Fitz was in the middle of his well-rehearsed set of self-deprecating jokes when he spotted them and locked eyes with Olivia. The connection was brief enough to avoid detection and long enough to cause Olivia's cheeks to burn and she looked away.

"Are you okay?" Jake asked, concerned.

"Yeah, I'm fine" she smiled prettily.

Jake looked quite dashing in his formal Navy Commander blues. He hadn't wanted to attend the ridiculous, pretentious gathering but he'd known that Olivia needed closure for whatever dalliance she had with Fitz, so he'd sucked it up to proudly escort his beautiful date for the evening. He was just about to lean in to compliment her in his cheeky way, when one of the stuffy, suited blokes dotting every corner of the building approached them from behind.

"Excuse me, Miss Pope" his practiced professional voice interrupted.

Olivia turned, her eyes widening in recognition. "Hal?"

Jake eyed her suspiciously.

"I'm sorry to interrupt, but your presence is requested" the wall of a man stated, the lack of intonation in his tone evident that the apology and "request" were simple formalities. Olivia didn't have a choice.

She wanted to ask who had requested her, but she had already garnered enough curious attention from other guests and didn't need more questioning gazes directed her way. She smiled, giving Jake's shoulder an apologetic squeeze, and rose from the table to follow the SSA from the ballroom. _Here we go_ , she thought with an inward sigh, and steeled herself for whatever quandary awaited her.


End file.
